Meet the team that brings donors and future parents together to achieve a common goal: the birth of a happy, healthy baby.
Genevieve Uys
Genevieve Uys
Founder & CEO
info@travelingdonors.com
Genevieve is dedicated to providing the best customer service and patient care. Her no-nonsense philosophy has got her to where she is today, the owner of a bootstrapped brand that has been built from the ground up.
Genevieve’s first egg retrieval took place just after her 21st birthday. She’d witnessed a relative go through the process of IVF and she was immediately drawn towards the cause. Having had two very impersonal experiences at a local agency in South African and One internationally with no emotional support, guidance or follow-up after the egg retrieval was complete, she sought out to find an agency that cared equally for the donor and future-parent. A trip to India for her second egg collection soon followed and proved to be an equally bleak experience. With little to no success finding a supportive agency, Genevieve embarked on the journey of founding her own, Traveling Donors.
Starting with only 30 donors, sourced through Gumtree and Facebook, a small group with sufficient medical coordinators was secured. Having gone through many of the processes herself, she was and still is empathetic and dedicated towards ensuring the support of those undergoing the same processes. Personally, Genevieve has donated to four families across the globe and is responsible for 9 live births. Moreover, she has donated to the same family twice to provide them with a sibling to the first child. This small beginning led to the successful company that has been spread across multiple continents today, many of which she has lived in!
Currently, Genevieve is set on achieving her vision of providing affordable and comprehensive care and support to South African women. She is a firm believer that the financial burden of freezing eggs should not be a hurdle in the process. She strives to create opportunities for all South African women to be able to afford to freeze their own eggs. In this day and age, she stands by the fact that women can have their cake and eat it. Be business women and mothers, choose their career without giving up the chance of having children one day.
She has done something truly unique in creating an agency that embraces transparency of costs. She fully understands the complexities and emotional difficulties that accompany the process and it is for that reason that she does what she can to alleviate the financial pressure on future parents. Clients are also given full access to case managers at all times because the ultimate goal is to give future parents a happy, healthy baby.
Fernanda Mirellez
Fernanda Mirellez
Latin America Donor co-ordinator
fernanda@travelingdonors.com
Fernanda’s vivacious personality adds another dimension to the already dynamic Traveling Donors team. Living in Guadalajara, Mexico, donation has always been perceived as a taboo topic, but Fernanda is passionate about learning more about the medical field and donation in general. When Fernanda isn’t working, she’s hitting the gym or spending time with friends and family.
Personally, Fernanda lives by the philosophy that she could never see herself without children in the future and she doesn’t think anyone else should have to either. Especially not as a result of a medical condition or a reason that is outside of their control. As a result, she’s dedicated to making a difference in the lives of others.
The name Fernanda means “bold journey” and she certainly lives up to it as she strives to make many families dreams come true. Fernandas tenacity and perseverance helps her in her role of recruiting donors and following up with them. Being bilingual also makes her an asset to the team as she broadens the Traveling Donors network.
Passionate about what she does, Fernanda sees herself growing with the team for many years to come. Her favorite part of the job is working with future parents and learning new things as she journeys with the team.
Jocelyn Soh
Jocelyn Soh
Malaysian Representative
jocelyn@travelingdonors.com
Jocelyn’s greatest asset is the precision that she uses to apply herself and get any job done. This is especially important as her role at Traveling Donors requires her to connect the dots between donors and agencies. Jocelyn has worked extensively with a number of agencies and after seeking out Traveling Donors online, she knew she wanted to work with the team. Her detail-oriented strengths make her the perfect person for the job as she has built up a network for donors and recruiters.
Jocelyn’s dedication and diligence extend beyond her working life. When Jocelyn isn’t at her computer, she spends her time playing the piano, practicing yoga or swimming lengths.
Jocelyn was born in Northern Malaysia and she was later based in Kuala Lumpur for 12 years. The majority of her work involved patient coordination and recruiting Chinese and Indian egg donors. As a result, she’s travelled extensively from all over Asia to Europe.
Her hands-on approach allows her to gather all necessary data regarding egg donors for Traveling Donors and she works hard at keeping the lines of communication open from both sides.
Jocelyn’s secret to happiness is helping the donors, specifically underprivileged women and as an integral member of the Traveling Donors team, she does just that.
Jamie Douglass
Jamie Douglass
jamiee@travelingdonors.com
With ten healthy, happy donor babies in the world, Jamie is the ultimate Patient Journey Coordinator. Full of empathy and compassion, it’s no surprise that her favorite part of the job is holding the egg donor’s and intending parents’ hands throughout their donor process. From beginning to end, she does her best to ensure each journey is a positive experience. In 2013, Jamie discovered egg donation and applied. Two weeks later, she was on a plane to Thailand for her first egg retrieval. Later in 2014, she moved to Cape Town, joined the Traveling Donors team and started climbing the ladder from Junior to Senior Donor Coordinator. The bug had bitten her. In an industry where most women are seen as egg factories, Traveling Donors has created something truly special where each and every girl is emotionally supported. Jamie believes that each of the girls is connected by stories and experiences and it’s only fitting that they support each other throughout their journey. Working full-time as a Senior Broker, Jamie is fully equipped with the skills required to apply herself in this industry. Empathetic to a fault, diligent and hardworking, Jamie loves playing a role in helping people achieve their dreams of having a family. No matter how small the role she plays in the patient’s donor process, she loves being a part of the parenthood journey. When Jamie isn’t working with recipients, she spends time watching F1, cooking up a storm or reading. Although she is studying and working full-time, Traveling Donors is her passion project.
Nurlan
Nurlan
Nurlan
nurlan@travelingdonors.com
“I’ve always had a deep desire to be a dad” and now Traveling Donors has helped Nurlan answer that call. Nurlan is a single, working dad to twin boys. He grew up in Kazakhstan and later chose to further his education in the UK. After completing his studies, he chose to reside in Dubai where he currently works.
Having started his journey during the time of the pandemic, the process was heartbreaking and difficult. After thoroughly researching his options worldwide, Nurlan came upon Traveling Donors. He specifically chose a known donor which was one of the many factors that led him to choose Traveling Donors as his partner in pursuing his dream of becoming a dad. Further, Traveling Donors flexibility in choosing a clinic he liked as well as affordability also motivated Nurlan to choose to partner with Genevieve and the team.
The journey to parenthood is a windy, challenging road and the support of the team, especially Genevieve, was invaluable according to Nurlan. When it came to choosing a donor, Nurlan appreciated the guidance and rationality of the Traveling Donor team and he personally felt as though he received more than he paid for with regards to the detailed process and the network he was linked to as he commenced with the process in Mexico.
Nurlan reiterated that Traveling Donors is a very caring, supportive community and he appreciated the specificity regarding who Genevieve chooses to work with in order to ensure the quality of each egg is good and the donors are not overstimulated or viewed as “egg factories.”
The ethics of the team is incredibly high and nothing is done under the table as it is in so many other agencies in the industry. As a result of the integrity of the company, Nurlan has decided to pursue a career in the industry and he will be joining the Traveling Donors team to continue his journey as more single parents choose to have children and as he discovers his newfound passion of making the impossible, possible.